Stocking blank and method of knitting the same



June 29, 1943. F. LAMBACH 2,322,802

STOCKING BLANK AND METHOD OF KNITTING THE SAME Filed Nov. 15, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 as 24 /ze s6 1619.4. I ufig muuu% W/ m w n W INVENTOR wom June 29, 1943. F MB CH 2,322,802

STOCKING BLANK AND METHOD OF KNITTING THE SAME Filed Nov. 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented June 29, 1943 STOCKING BLANK AND METHOD OF KNITTING THE SAME i-ritz Lambach, Belleville, N. J., assignor to Robert Reiner, Incorporated, a corporation of New Jersey Application November 13, 1936, Serial No. 110,707

17 Claims.

Thepresent invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of hosiery. and more particularly to an improved method of knitting a combination full-fashioned foot and leg stocking blank in which the foot is knitted directly onto the leg and high heel portions of the blank, and the heel portions are thereafter knitted into the blank in a separate knitting operation.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a method of knitting the heel portions into a combination foot and leg blank which consists in knitting the heel portions onto the leg portion of the blank, and at the same time inter-knitting the inner selvage edge of the heel portions into the adjoining portion of the foot fabric to form a finished blank.

It is another object of the method herein dis- I plicants method and the advantages to be obtained thereby will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 illustrates a combination full-fashioned stocking blank in which the foot portion is knitted directly onto the leg and high heel portions thereof; Fig. 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic'view on an enlarged scale showing the loop structure of the blank shown in Fig. 1 at the juncture and high heel and sole portions of the blank; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2. in which the connecting partial non-reinforced courses between the high heel and sole portions of the blank are formed by a separate yarn; Fig. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view on an enlarged scale showing the last course of the high heel portion and the first course of the sole portion topped onto two series of needles in straight line relationship subsequent to the severing of the non-reinforced connecting loops shown in Figs. 2 and 3; Fig. 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic view on an enlarged scale showing the relative positions of the high heel, sole and heel portions of the stocking blank after the knitting of a number of heel courses; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, illustrating a somewhat different mode of operation in which adjoining sole wale loops of the first course of sole fabric are knitted into the inner selvage and adjacent wales of'the heel fab ric; Fig. 7 15a view similar to Fig. 4. but illustrating a variation of, applicant's method, in which one or more courses are knitted into all of the loops of the'last course of the high heel of the sole fabric is knitted into the inner selvage wale of the heel portion only during the knitting of each alternate heel course.

In the manufacture of full-fashioned stockings, it has been proposed as set forth in applicant's copendingapplication Serial No. 104.244, filed October 6, 1936, to knit a combination foot and leg stocking blank in a continuous operation on one machine, and thereafter on a separate machine to knit the heel portions into the blank in the form of heel fiaps, which are thereafter attached along their inner selvage edges to the first course of sole fabric by means of the usual looping operation. The novel method herein disclosed contemplates the knitting of the heel portions into a combination stocking blank of this general description by a knitting operation in which the heel portions are knitted directly onto the leg portion of the blank, and in which the inner selvage edges of the heel portions are at the same time inter-knitted with the adjoining portion of the foot fabric to form the finished blank. This method of knitting th heel portion has the advantage of eliminating the present looping connection between the inner selvage edges of the heel portionsand the sole, thereby considerably reducing the amount of handling to which the blank is subjected, and the resulting cost of producing the stocking. The knitted connection thus provided between the heel portions and the sole fabric, serves also to provide a stronger and more fiexible connection which is fiat in appearance as compared with the present bulky looping chain. v

' Referring specifically to Fig. 1, a combination stocking blank of this general description is illustrated, in which the foot including the sole' portions are knitted directly onto the leg and high heel portions of the blank. The blank comprises the usual welt portion lll, leg I2, highheels demarcation between the adjacent high heel and sole portions which are later to be separated to permit the knitting of the heel portions into the 'blank, two partial non-reinforced courses 24 are knitted inwardly from each selvage edge of the blank the width of the heel portions to be subsequently added, leaving only a narrow width of re- 15 inforced fabric between the inner end of the nonreinforced course and the inner selvage of thereinforced high heel and sole portions of the blank.

This condition is illustrated in somewhat diagrammatic form in Fig. 2, in which the reinforcing yarn 32 is fed to only four needles at the in-" ner. elvage edge of the reinforced portions during high heel section l6 and the first reinforced course of the sole section 22 on the other side'of' thecombination blank shown in Fig. 1.

Inasmuch as the topping bar referred to, forms specifically no part of the present invention, and is fully described and illustrated in a separate application for Letters Patent Serial No. 125,569, filed February 13, 1937, for Method and apparatus for topping knitted fabric, no further description or\ illustration of the specific form of topping bar e ployed is believed necessary in this application.

The non-reinforced connecting courses 24.are now severed by means of a knife 38 which is moved inwardly to separate the high heel portion l4 and sole portion 20 as indicated by the'dotand-dash positions shown in Fig. 2. The needles 36 of the topping bar are then moved outwardly from the parallel position shown in Fig.2, to a straight line position in which the course of loops 28 of the high heel section l4, selvage loop and the course of loops 34 of the sole portion 20 are tlie knitting of the partial non-reinforced courses designated at 24.

In a preferred form of applicant's method of manufacture of a complete full-fashioned stocking blank, an additional step in the knitting of the combination blank illustrated in Fig. 1, is introduced, which consists in the use of a separate yarn 26 for the knitting of the part al non-reinforced connecting courses 24 whil the regular knitting yarn 21 and reinforcing yam 32 are fed outwardly only to the 'selvage edge of the reinforced portion of said partial courses as indicated by the selvage loop 30 in Fig. 3. At the completionof the partial non-reinforced courses 24, the knitting with the yarn 26 is discontinued, and the knitting of the foot including the reinforced sole portions is continued upon all the active needles with the regular feeding yarn 21 and reinforcing yarn 32. This method ofknitting the partial non-reinforced courses 24 has the particular advantage that when these connecting courses are cut preparatory for knitting the heel portions into the blank, the cutting operation leaves all of the yarn forming part of the finished stocking blank uncut.

For convenience and simplicity of illustration, the several steps of applicants method of knitting the heel portions into the combination stocking blank shown in Fig. 1 being identical and preferably performed at th same time for the knitting of both heel portions, are specifically de scribed and illustrated only in connection with the knitting of the heel portiononto the high heel portion l4 and sole portion 20 of the blank. It is to be understood, however, that the operation of knitting the heel portion into the high heel portion l6 and sole portion 22 may be and preferably is performed at the same time.

In accordance with applicant's method, the loops of the last reinforced course 28 of the high heel section 14, the selvage loop 30 ,of the reinforcing yarn 32, and the loops of the first reinforced course 34 of the sole portion 20, are topped onto the needles 36 of a topping bar which is preferably hinged together in such a mannerthat this topping operation may take place with the loops of the two courses '28 and 34 in the parallel position in which they are knitted into the combination blank shown in Fig. 1, before the severing of the non-reinforced connecting courses 24 takes place. This operation is best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. A similar operation is preferably performed at the same time for the topping. of-the last reinforced course of the supported in an evenly spaced straight line relationship, and may be transferred to the needles 40 of a fiat'knitting machine (as indicated in Fig. 4) which is preferably of the general type having spring beard needles operating with relation to the press edge independently movable yarn measuring sinkers and knockover elements cooperating as in flat full-fashioned machines now in use to produce knitted fabric.

The heel portion designated at 42 is now knitted by means of a feeding yarn 44 on that portion of the needles 40 which supports the last course-of loops 28 of the high heel portion N, no

knitting being produced on the remaining needles 4!! which-are utilized merely to support and to facilitate in the transfer of the selvage loop 30 and the first course of loops 34 of the sole portion 20.

The knitting of the heel portion 42 now proceeds as illustrated in Fig. 5. After the knitting of each succeeding heel course, the loops held on the inactive needles are transferred'one needle to the right, so that first the selvage loop 30 and then the adjoining loops of the first course 34 of the sole portion 20 are successively transferred to the inner selvage needle of the active grou'p knitting the heel portion. The knitting of the heel portion iscontinued until all of the loops held on the inactive needles have been thus transferred, thus causing the first course 34 ofthe sole portion 20 to be knitted into the inner selvage edge of the heel portion 42. During the knitting of the heel portions as above described, the usual narrowings as indicated at 46 are worked into the heel portions, which are then finished off by the knitting of the usual ravel courses 48 to form the finished blankvas shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 6 of the drawings illustrates a modified form of applicant's method as above described in connection with Fig. 5, and has for its object to knit each of the series of terminal wale loops of the adjacent sole fabric successively into the selvage edge of the heel portion in such a manner as to insure the formation of a proper connection as illustrated in Fig. 5, would result in the dropping of the. sole wale loop transferred to this needle. In order to obviate this dimculty, the successive transfer operations as shown in Fig. 5, are modified to cause the loop held on the last inactive needle adjacent the active needles knitting the heel fiap courses, to be transferred two needles to the right, so that this loop is passed over the needle forming the inner selvage edge of the heel portion onto the second active needle, thus causing the sole fabric loops to be knitted into the second wale instead of the inside selvage wale of the heel fabric. It will readily be seen that with this method of forming he knitted connection between the inner selvage edge of the heel portion and the adjoining sole fabric, any possibility of drop stitches due to the failure of the selvage needles to hold its yarn, is entirely eliminated.

Fig. 7 of the drawings, illustrates another modification of applicants method of knitting the heel portions into the adjoining high heel and sole portions of the combination blank, in which an additional preliminary step is introduced of knitting one or more courses 50 on all of the needles 40 prior to the knitting of the heel portion. In the knitting c this course or courses 50, the heel knitting yarn ll is-fed to all the needles, while a separate reinforcing yarn 52 is fed only to the remaining needles 48 supporting the wale loops of the sole portion 20. The object in the knitting of this reinforced course 50 is to provide an extremely strong and heavy first course of sole fabric which is well adapted to withstand the relatively heavy strain to which the sole and heel portions of the stockings are subjected in actual use, and also to withstand the wear and tear of the repeated transfer operations to which these loops are subsequently subjected during knitting of the sole portion of the blank into the inner selvage edge of the heel portion. After one or more courses 50' have been knitted in this manner over the entire series of needles I, the knitting of the yarn 52 is discontinued, and the needles supporting sole wale loops are rendered inoperative as, for instance, by the operation of the removable press bar 54 indicated in dot-anddash lines in Fig. 7. The subsequent steps in the knitting of the heel portion, may follow exactly the method above described in connection with either Fig. or Fig. 6, in which the loops held on the inactive needles are transferred to the right after the knitting of each succeeding heel course with yarn N to cause each successive loop of the course 50 to be transferred to the active needle forming the inner selvage edge of the heel portion 42.

Another modification of applicants method is illustrated in connection with Fig. 9 of the drawings, in which a transfer operation is introduced to transfer the adjoining solewale loop to the active needle forming the inner selvage edge of the heel portion only after the knitting of each alternate heel course. This mode of operation may be employed with advantage in order to adjust the heel length to the width of the sole fabric which is to be knitted into the inner selvage edge of the heel flap 42.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and a preferred manner of practicing the invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. The method of knitting a heel portion onto the leg and foot portions of a combination stocking blank which comprises knitting heel courses onto the leg portion of the blank, extending the first of said heel courses beyond the inner edge of said heel portion for knitting into the foot portion of the blank and during the knitting of the following heel courses interknitting the inner edge of said heel portion with the extended heel course of the adjoining portion of the foot fabric.

2. The method of knitting the heel portions into a combination foot and leg stocking blank having the foot portion knitted onto the le which comprises separately supporting those portions of the last course of leg fabric and those portions of the first course of the foot fabric to which the heel portions are to be knitted, knitting heel courses into said supported course of leg fabric extending the first of said heel courses beyond the inner edge of said hee1 portions for knitting into the foot fabric of the blank and during the knitting of following heel courses, successively knitting adjoining wale loops of the extended portion of said first heel courses into the inner selvage edges of the heel portions.

3. The method of knitting a heel portion into a combination foot and leg stocking blankv which comprises separately supporting that portion of the last course of the leg fabricand that portion of the first course of the foot fabric to which the heel portion is to be knitted, knitting one or more connecting courses into the supported foot fabric wales, knitting heel courses into the supported leg portion of the fabric, and during the knitting of following heel courses interknitting the inner edge of said heel portion into said foot fabric connecting course.

4. The method of knitting a heel portion into a combination foot and leg stocking blank which comprises separately supporting that portion of the last course of leg fabric and that portion of the first course of foot fabric to which the heel portion is to be knitted, knitting one or more connecting courses into all of the supported fabric wales, and a reinforcing yarn to form that portion of the course knitted into the supported foot fabric wales, knitting heel courses into the supported leg portion of the fabric, and during the knitting of following heel courses interknitting the inner edge of said heel portion into said reinforced foot fabric connecting course.

5 The method of knitting the heel portion into a combination foot and leg stocking blank having the foot portion thereof knitted directly onto the leg and high heel portions and having reinforced high heel and sole portions separated by partial non-reinforced courses extending inwardly from the selvage edges of the blank the width of the heel portions subsequently knitted thereto, which comprises separately supporting the last reinforced course of high heel fabric and the first reinforced course of sole fabric, severing said non-reinforced courses to separate the high heel and sole portions of the blank, knitting one or more courses along the length of both of said supported high heel and sole fabric courses, knitting heel courses into the portion of said last knitted course or courses forming a continuation of the high heel fabric wales, and during the knitting of following heel courses, successively knitting the adjoining wale loops of said course or courses forming a continuation of the sole fabric wales into the inner selvage edges of said heel portions.

6. The method of knitting a course of terminal wale loops of a previously knitted fabric into the selvage edge formed by the knitting of successive courses of fabric loops'on a needle series, which comprises supporting said course of terminal wale loops on an adjoining inactive portion of said needle series, and during the knitting of following courses on the active series successively transferring the terminal Wale loop adjoining the active selvage needle over said selvage needle to an adjacent active needle, and simultaneously with each transfer of the adjoining wale loop transferring the remainder of said terminal wale loops one needle toward the active series.

7. The method of knitting a stocking which consists'in knitting the leg section and the foot section of the stocking as a contiguous unitary fabric; separating a portion of the leg section from a portion of the foot section; knitting a heel tab as a continuation of the separated portion of the leg section; extending certain courses of the heel tab to the outer edge of the corresponding foot section; and interknitting in overlapping relation heel tab inner selvedge loops and extended course loops to form a connection therebetween as the knitting of the heel tab progresses beyond said extended courses.

'8. The method of knitting a stocking which consists in knitting the leg section'and the foot section of the stocking as a contiguous unitary fabric; separating a portion of the leg section. from a portion of the foot section; knitting a heel tab as a continuation of one separated portion; extending certain courses of the heel tab for knitting onto the other separated portion; and interconnecting the heel tab and other separated portion by interknitting in overlapping relation loops of the heel tab and loops of the extended portion of said certain courses knitted onto said other separated portion as the knitting of the" heel tab progresses beyond said certain courses,

9. The method of knitting a stocking which consists of knitting the leg and foot portions as a unit, subsequently knitting a heeltabto the end of each high heel, the first course of each 'heel tab being extended to the outer'edge, of the 11. The method of knitting the leg and feet portions as a unit, subsequently knitting a heel tab to the end of each high heel, at least the first course of each heel tab being extended to the outer edge of the corresponding sole 'portion and subsequently joining said sole portion to said heel tab by means of the last of said extended courses.

12. The method of knitting a stocking which consists of knitting the leg and foot portions'as a unit, subsequently knitting a heel tab to the end of each high-heel, extending a plurality of heel tab. courses to the-outer edge of the corresponding sole portion and joining the sole portion to the heel tab by means of said extended courses progressively courseby course with the knitting of the heel tab.

13. A stocking which includes heel tabs and corresponding sole portions and means by which each heel tab is joined to the corresponding sole po1'-tion,'consisting of a plurality of courses of 'loops each extending across said heel tab and also from the inner edge of said heel tab to the outer edge of said sole portion, the loops of that portion of the last of said courses extending from the inner edgeof said heel tab to the outer edge of saidsole portion being knitted with and into the loops forming the inner selvedge portion of said heel tab.

14. A stocking. which includes heel tabs and correspondingsole portions and mean-s by which each heel tab is joined to the corresponding sole portion, consisting of ELCOUISE of loops extending across said heel tab'and also from the inner edge of said heel tab to the outer edge of said the inner selvedge portion of said heel tab.

15. In amethod of knitting heel sections into a knitted stocking blank having interknitted leg and foot fabrics provided with adjacent sepaing length of said continuous course.

16. In a method of knitting heel sections into a knitted stocking blank having interknitted leg and foot fabrics provided with adjacent separated high heel and sole sections: knitting a continuous course onto the marginal courses of the adjacent high heel and sole sections, thereby combining said marginal courses; knitting a series of heel courses onto that portion of said continuou's course knitted onto the marginal course of the high heel section; and simultaneously with the knitting of said series of heel courses, interknitting selvedge loops of the latter with that portion of said continuous course knitted onto the marginal course of the'sole section.

17. In a full-fashioned knitted stocking having a sole fabric, series of successive courses forming FRITZ LAMBACH. 

